We had decided to get out of the city. We took the 65 bus out of the city, chose the most random location to get off, and set out for the closest mountain. We had been dropped off on the side of the road just outside what appeared to be a very tiny town composed only of a couple streets. There wasn't even a sign for the bus stop, just a empty stretch of road. We walked through town, looking for an entrance to the mountain, or at least some food. We found a conve...

I started off my Thanksgiving this year with a family gathering on Skype at 6:00 am Monday morning. "What are you doing today? Doing any hikes?" I was asked after we figured out the time difference and determined what time of the day it was for both parties. "We are buying food, making food, and eating food," I informed them. The lack of family in the area had forced us to build our own. We had invited co-workers, and local friends over to our house, promising th...

Man made mountain There is a mountain behind our apartment. It is not very big as far as mountains go, but it is tall enough to be a descent climb and offer a gorgeous view of the city. We've climbed it three times now, the first time we climbed it was shortly after we arrived in Jinan. Nate and I set out on an exploration of town, with our main goal to scale the two closest mountains. As we climbed the first one we discussed what it must have been like a thou...

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000167 EndHTML:0000004192 StartFragment:0000000454 EndFragment:0000004176 The honking of both car and bike horns is a constant as taxis weave in and out between traffic, and bikes chase pedestrians off the sidewalks. There seems to be no rules of the road here, bikes, mopeds, even occasionally cars occupy the side walks, which serve as a walking path, road, and parking lot. I have grown quick to glance over my shoulder and jump out of t...

We stand out a little bit here. I am a 5'7" brunette, verging on blond, caucasian twenty-something year old girl, and Nate, my boyfriend who has joined me on this adventure is a 6'4" ginger giant. We get stared at a lot, I mean full on, turning around completely as we pass, shameless gawking. I'm pretty oblivious to the world as it is, but Nate notices each and every glance in our direction. It's kind of fun, we make friends everywhere we go as there are not a lo...